MatthiasAngel

Overgrown

Eight people signed up for this. Why hasn't anyone posted for two days? Two people (BigPapa and The Incredible John) haven't posted at all. Yell at 'em, Swarley.

Overgrown

Matt dropped the baton in shock. "You...so you're her friend? The one she was visiting?"

The girl nodded quickly. "Yes! I'm Sarah. She was visiting me, not long ago. She showed me a picture of you." She cupped her hands around her mouth. "Oh my gosh, I'm SO SORRY I hit you! I didn't...you had a gun, and..." she gestured wildly, trying to finish the sentence. Matt stepped forward and grabbed one of her hands, jerking her to her feet. She winced, then forced a smile onto her face.

"I'm soooo sorry," she said again, a look of true regret plastered on her face. Matt blinked a few times, trying to absorb the energy from the girl. How could anyone be this hyper, especially, after something like the Apostate? She was in good spirits for being alone.

His blood turned cold. She was alone. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her briefly. "Amie. Where is Amie?? I've been looking for her!"

She looked surprised, then sad. "Amie's fine. I think. She's been living here with me for...however long it's been. No cars, no phones, no Internet. She was bent on leaving, though. I tried hard to convince her to stay, but she wanted to get home. One day I woke up and she was gone. I FREAKED. OUT. Fortunately she was back that evening with food. Turns out, a leopard had been stalking this building, and she decided to wait here a bit longer."

"When was the last time you say her?" Matt asked, his hopes finally returning.

Sarah looked down at the floor. "A week ago. She went out to get more food and didn't come back. I've been-" she stopped, holding back a sob. "I've been scanning around the building every day for signs of her, but she hasn't come back. I'm so sorry...I wish I knew where to look, but yesterday that leopard showed up again, so I've been hiding here."

Matt's hands curled into fists. No! How could he have come so close only to find her gone? He released Sarah and glared at the floor, trying to think of a question. Suddenly a thought crossed his mind. He reached down and grabbed the baton, weighing it in his hand and swinging it a few times. It was light but very thick and looked expensive. Sarah watched him and gestured at it. "Yeah. That's mine. My parents bought it for me to protect myself when I moved into an apartment by myself. Never thought I'd need to use it."

She grinned. "I've been lucky. Those 'Child of God' scumbags haven't shown up. One of them did, a while ago, but the leopard got him. I found the jacket when I went looking for Amie and kept it. You never know when you need to scare someone off, right?" She grabbed it from the floor and slid it back on, giving Matt a goofy salute.

A gunshot echoed through the building, followed by some words Matt couldn't make out. His eyes locked with Sarah, who looked just as shocked as he did. Sweat was already forming on her forehead. Matt closed the door as quietly as possible, then turned and grabbed Sarah again.

"Stay calm! They're going to search every room. If we want to get out of this, we need to either fight or run, and we'll have a better chance of escaping them than we will a leopard. Can you fight with this?" he forced the baton into her hand. She nodded, taking a deep breath and swallowing hard. "Good," he said, reducing his voice to a whisper. "We'll take the bedroom. Leave the doors unlocked, because if we lock them they'll know someone is inside."

"There are two bedrooms," Sarah whispered back. "We each hide in one. Behind the door! Maybe they'll just look inside and leave. Oh, and here! Take your gun back." Matt nodded, taking the firearm and heading for one of the bedrooms. Sarah took the other one, closing the door behind her. Matt left his almost completely open. Hopefully the intruder would glance in, see an empty bedroom and leave. If not...he would think of something.

Overgrown

I really like how my post just ended. Heh. Just recently I found out how powerful batons are as weapons and wanted to get myself one in the RP, but I didn't want to just stumble across one in good condition. Next best option: get hit with one.

Overgrown

Matt hiked up the stairs, panting quietly. The second floor was a dud. Empty rooms and no signs of Amie, or any life at all. He headed down the hallway on Floor 3, looking for 326 or 362. He hoped it would be the former. Reading the titles on the doors, he moved swiftly down the corridor. 20...22...24...26. He knocked heavily on the door. "Amie?" he called, waiting for a response and receiving nothing.

"Amie? It's Matt. You there?" he called again. No answer. He silently hoped this was the wrong room, as he'd rather climb to Floor 6 and see Amie unharmed than find out she was...no, shut up. Amie was tough. He checked the knob and discovered that the door was locked. He knocked once more, then flipped the revolver around, grabbing the barrel and using it as a hammer to smash the doorknob from the door. It cracked, then snapped off and dropped to the floor. Holding the gun at the ready, he shoved the door open with his shoulder and stepped into the room. Two seconds later, the world went black.

--

Matt woke up on the floor, groaning in pain. Something had struck him straight in the back of the head, and, reaching around, he could feel something warm and wet on the edges of his hair. Blood. Had he been attacked? He blinked a few times and realized, to his shock, that someone was standing over him. It looked like a young woman. She was snarling and holding a metal retractable baton an inch from his face. Her hand was shaking, though, so she wasn't actually hostile. Just afraid. He blinked again, finally bringing the world into focus. The first thing he saw was Caucasian skin, straight black hair (shoulder length) and dark pupils. It wasn't Amie.

The second thing he saw was the jacket. A chill went through his body. Dark green with a black patch on the shoulder. She was one of them. The Children of God. On top of that, the magnum was tucked into her belt. "Don't move! I'm not afraid to hit you again!" she growled, swinging the baton in circles around his face. "Give up! I'm a Child of God, see? See??" She grabbed the sleeve of her jacket with her free hand and showed him the patch. "We are special and perfect. We are the Children of God, and...and we...uh..."

She stopped and looked at the patch. Her mouth moved slightly as she tried to form the words to the oath, but no words would come. She grabbed the jacket and pulled it off her arm, trying to read the back where the letters were stitched. Matt saw an opening and kicked hard, aiming for her calf. The girl screamed briefly and dropped to one knee. Matt grabbed the baton and jerked it, and the woman, into his extended foot in a sharp second kick. Her eyes popped as the breath was knocked out of her and she hit the ground hard, landing on her upper back. Seizing the opportunity, he hauled himself to his feet and tossed the baton to his right hand, prodding the girl in the chest with it.

"A Child of God who can't even remember the oath. I didn't know they could get any more pathetic."

The girl gasped, a look of legitimate terror on her face. "WAIT! Wait don't! I'm not a Child of God, okay? I..." She stared at him closely, squinting her eyes slightly as she examined him. "Wait, I know you. I think. You're...OH MY GOSH, MATT?! You're Amie's friend!"

Two-Man Army

Matt ignored the question. Reggie knew full well that he didn't eat spicy food, and he wasn't in the mood to talk anyway. The lack of work was starting to wear away at his patience, making way for irritation and a shorter temper. He knew he needed to keep it under control, but doing nothing over and over was taking a toll on him. He needed to do SOMEthing. Clean the guns. Practice boxing. Take his bike apart and put it back together.

He opened the top left drawer in his desk and looked through it. He grinned briefly. It was his "Go Kit." Everything he needed on the job. A heavy flashlight, camera kit, lockpick set, choke cable, and a new weapon. He lifted it from the drawer and slid it out of the holster. It was a Boniwi EKA Camlock baton. 26" of retractable German steel, capable of breaking doorknobs, windows and bones. He needed practice though, which reminded him; he had purchased a book on fighting with sticks not long ago. Matt dove back through the desk, locating the book and flipping through the illustrations. He would need a sturdy object as practice. Something that could take serious hits and not break. He scowled, then glanced up.

Of course. His punching bag. It was no cheap store bought brand. The bag could take a serious beating without a single scratch. Matt stood up and flicked his wrist, sliding the baton open and resting it on his shoulder in a basic combat stance: feet spread, knees bent, hands in front of the face for protection. He lunged at the back, jumped back and struck it with the baton. The impact echoed briefly through the room, nearly shaking the floorboards. He groaned inside, knowing full well that we would be in for a berating from Reggie. He spun the baton in an arc, turning his head slightly and watching the door.

Elysium

Matt turned pale. "She WHAT? She's been-" he stopped, trying to avoid attracting attention. He rubbed his eyes and gritted his teeth in frustration. They were so close! How could this have happened when they were so close to escape? He took a deep breath and opened his eyes.

"Wait, is she alive? You said she was shot, but is she alive? We have to go back." He go out of seat, pushing past others at the bus stop to head for the alley. He glanced down it and saw the woman, flat on the ground in a pool of blood. He could see from where he was that she wasn't breathing, but she might still be alive. He needed an ambulance. Matt turned around to call for help when he saw the bus arrive. He could either escape now and leave the woman, or he could save the woman, if she was alive, and risk death again. Sweat rolled down his face and he considered his choices. He had less than sixty seconds to save a life. Freya or the scientist?

No. He couldn't save them both...on his own. An idea sparked in his mind. A crowd of people were waiting for the bus, less than ten feet from the alley. He ran back and grabbed the nearest person, a male teenager listening to music through earbuds. Before he could object, Matt pulled him to the alley and pointed him in the direction of the woman. The teen's face went pale and his mouth dropped open.

"HEY! SOMEONE GOT SHOT!" he screamed, gesturing wildly towards the alley.

By the time the crowd had turned and the police had been called, Matt had taken his seat on the bus, two rows from the back. He smiled slightly. There was no way the killer would open fire on a group of civilians standing ten feet from an open street. He hoped that the woman would make it, but for now he had other things to worry about. Such as Freya. He glanced around to see if she was on the bus as well.

Overgrown

3 days?? Where is everyone??

Overgrown

Matt tightened the strap in his satchel, patting it to see if there was still food inside. He felt the outline of at least one pack of pop-tarts and a bottle of water. Hopefully he would be restocking his food supply soon. The apartment complex was directly in front of him now, but, to his dismay, it was a massive building. For a moment he panicked, forgetting the address Amie had mentioned before leaving. He closed his eyes, snarling and rubbing his head, trying desperately to remember the number. It was the first building for sure, but what room? Floor 6, Room 623...no, Floor 2, Room 236. Or was it 263? At least he knew it involved those three digits.

He examined the building, counting the floors. Eight total. He would have to check three of them. Matt groaned in frustration. He was getting worn out. Little rest and food, running mainly on adrenaline and avoiding all human contact. He skirted the entrance and examined the parking lot. It was almost empty and what cars were left were almost invisible from the growth. None of them looked familiar, but he had never actually met her friend.

Just for good measure, he unholstered the revolver, looking over it again. An unloaded weapon, but a weapon nonetheless. It would be a hard bluff in direct light, as anyone could see that the chambers were empty, unlike a semiautomatic handgun which would have had a concealed magazine. He shrugged, spinning the gun in his hand. It was solid but light enough to manage, and a .357 Magnum lacks nothing in power. Assuming he could find ammunition for it. He still didn't know how his father acquired it, but there was no way to know now. Holding it in front of him, he moved quickly across the lot, heading for the main entrance.

Overgrown

Well. I suggest figuring out where other people are, checking their character sheet to see how your character might react to them, then arrange a "meet up by accident" kinda thing. Once you start some dialogue, the other RPer will have to respond and you can work with that. For a reason to travel, you can always use "I need food" as a reason to get going. Look for a supermarket or retail store. Bump into another player.

Overgrown

I was gonna say. Was pretty sure this was Casual, not Advanced. And I'm going to be heading towards Central Park as well before long. Might meet up with the CoG on the way.